Living with asthma leads to developing personal strategies in self-management of asthma. Moreover both parents and adolescents had expectations of being met by competent and understanding health care professionals. Developing a partnership between patients and health care professionals could be a successful way to improve the care of patients with asthma.
Objective: Asthma is a multifaceted disease, and severe asthma is likely to be persistent. Patients with severe asthma have the greatest burden and require more healthcare resources than those with mild-to-moderate asthma. The majority with asthma can be managed in primary care, while some patients with severe asthma warrant referral for expert advice regarding management. In adolescence, this involves a transition from pediatric to adult healthcare. This study aimed to explore how young adults with severe asthma experienced the transition process. Methods: Young adults with severe asthma were recruited from an ongoing Swedish population-based cohort. Qualitative data were obtained through individual interviews (n ¼ 16, mean age 23.4 years), and the transcribed data were analyzed with systematic text condensation. Results: Four categories emerged based on the young adults' experiences: "I have to take responsibility", "A need of being involved", "Feeling left out of the system", and "Lack of engagement". The young adults felt they had to take more responsibility, did not know where to turn, and experienced fewer follow-ups in adult healthcare. Further, they wanted healthcare providers to involve them in self-management during adolescence, and in general, they felt that their asthma received insufficient support from healthcare providers. Conclusions: Based on how the young adults with severe asthma experienced the transition from pediatric to adult healthcare, it is suggested that healthcare providers together with each patient prepare, plan, and communicate in the transition process for continued care in line with transition guidelines.
Background: Although asthma is the most common chronic paediatric disease in Western Europe, the extent of adherence to guidelines for primary care management of paediatric asthma remains unclear.
Background
There is limited knowledge regarding prevalence and characteristics of atopic dermatitis (AD) among young adults in the general population.
Objectives
To study AD among young adults in a Swedish population‐based birth cohort, with a particular focus on prevalence, sex differences including risk for AD at different ages, disease course and characteristics of AD at 24 years.
Methods
The BAMSE cohort includes 4089 individuals who have been followed regularly from birth to age 24 years regarding AD and atopic diseases. For this study 3055 individuals who answered questions regarding AD at the 24‐year follow‐up were included. All were invited to a clinical examination including skin examination, evaluation by William's criteria and collection of blood for analysis of specific IgE, and 2264 individuals chose to participate.
Results
At 24 years, the 12‐month prevalence of AD was 17.8% and more females than males had AD (20.5% vs. 14.8%), P < 0.0001. The point prevalence of ongoing AD at clinical examination was 8.0%. AD severity as assessed by Patient‐Oriented Eczema Measure (POEM) did not differ between sexes. The proportion of adult onset of AD was 16.9% (92 of 543), females 17.3% vs. males 16.4%. More females than males with AD at 24 years reported disturbed sleep due to itch (26.1% vs. 15.5%, P < 0.003). IgE sensitization was less common among females with AD than males with AD (61.3% vs. 79.6%, P < 0.0001). In addition, male sex (female sex being the reference) was associated with increased odds for AD the first year of life (OR: 1.31, 95% CI; 1.10–1.56), and decreased odds of AD in adolescence and young adulthood (OR: 0.66, 95% CI; 0.55–0.80).
Conclusions
Atopic dermatitis is a common disease among young adults, and even though more females than males have AD at 24 years, adult onset of AD seems to be equally prevalent among both sexes in young adulthood.
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